Today on the presidential campaign trail

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - IN THE HEADLINES

Clinton assails rivals McCain, Obama on Iraq plans ... Elizabeth Edwards prefers Clinton's health care plan, but stops short of endorsement ... Virginia governor defends Democratic lobbying of superdelegates for Obama

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Clinton assails rivals on Iraq plans

ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she is the only presidential candidate who will begin a prompt drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq next year.

One day after she and her two rivals Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain questioned the top U.S. military commander for Iraq, Clinton said McCain is unwilling to withdraw troops, and Obama cannot be trusted to do so.

"One candidate will continue the war," she told an audience at Hopewell High School, near Pittsburgh. "One candidate only says he'll end the war. And one candidate is ready, willing and able to end the war."

The New York senator did not say why she believes Obama would not carry out his pledge to bring most U.S. troops home within 16 months. A campaign news release quoted her as saying, "his adviser says you can't count on that."

It was a reference to a former Obama adviser, Samantha Power, who told a Scottish newspaper that Obama might take longer to end the war if conditions are not favorable. His aides have said Power was not speaking for the campaign.

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Elizabeth Edwards plugs Clinton plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Edwards put in a plug Wednesday for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan — possibly the closest any Democratic presidential candidate is likely to get to an endorsement from former rival John Edwards or his wife.

Both Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have been seeking the backing of John Edwards, whose home state — North Carolina — holds a primary on May 6 with 115 delegates at stake.

Elizabeth Edwards, who discovered last year that the cancer she thought she had beaten had returned, said she prefers Clinton's health care plan, which would require everyone to have health insurance and offers assistance to those who can't afford to buy coverage.

Obama's plan requires all parents to have health insurance for their children, but doesn't mandate that all adults buy coverage.

"I do think that in order to ensure that we have universal coverage we need to say that everybody has to join, so for that reason the mandates that Senator Clinton is talking about I think will actually be more successful in achieving the goal," Elizabeth Edwards said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."

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Va. governor defends lobbying for Obama

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Barack Obama's leading backer in Virginia sees no harm in Democratic insiders beckoning superdelegates to abandon Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Wednesday it's fair for 36 local party chairmen and five congressional district chairs to petition independent convention delegates to support Obama.

"It's all part of persuasion. We're all in a persuasion game here trying to convince those who are uncommitted to commit, so I don't have any problem with that," Kaine told reporters at a ceremony where he signed legislation related to the Virginia Tech shooting rampage last April.

The petition, sent to all 16 Virginia superdelegates last week, urged them to end what they say is a divisive intraparty fight for the Democratic presidential nomination and unite behind Obama.

Superdelegates will determine the outcome because neither Clinton nor Obama can win the 2,025 votes to secure the nomination solely from pledged delegates won in primaries or caucuses.

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THE NUMBERS

Barack Obama's lead rose to 10 points nationally over Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential race, 51 percent to 41 percent, in the latest Gallup Poll. The survey had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll was conducted April 6-8 and involved interviews with 1,240 Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters. The survey was a tracking poll, in which Gallup interviews voters every night and uses the results from the three most recent evenings.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns in Pennsylvania before attending a fundraiser with singer Elton John in New York. Barack Obama campaigns in Pennsylvania and travels to South Bend, Ind., for a rally.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain holds a town hall meeting in Westport, Conn.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"I think they both have the same goals, I just have more confidence in Senator Clinton's policy than Senator Obama's on this particular issue." — Elizabeth Edwards discussing Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama's health care plans in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Whites who said race was not a factor in picking a presidential candidate were nearly evenly divided when asked whether Hillary Rodham Clinton or Barack Obama would satisfy them as the Democratic nominee, according to data from exit polls of voters in 22 Democratic primaries.

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Compiled by Ann Sanner.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_el_pr/2008_race_rundown [link]